1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hand-held firearm, particularly to a rifle, comprising a receiver, a barrel, which is detachably mounted in said receiver, a firing mechanism and a slider, which during the loading and/or firing operation cooperates with the firing mechanism and is mounted in said receiver for a movement in the longitudinal direction of said barrel against the force of a return spring, wherein the barrel is detachably mounted in a locking sleeve, which is fixed to the housing, the barrel has been locked in said sleeve by a rotary movement, said housing is provided with a barrel bearing, a bushing is mounted in said barrel bearing in front of the forward end of the path for said slider, and said barrel extends through said bushing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Firearms having a detachably mounted barrel and a chamber member which is separate from the barrel and included in the firing mechanism will permit the use of a simpler firing mechanism, will facilitate the care of the firearm and the use of different barrels, and will permit a shortening of the required overall length. On the other hand, the fact that the barrel is detachable involves the risk that a round may inadvertently be discharged when the barrel has not properly been locked or has even been removed. This is due to the fact that the sequences of motions performed by the firing mechanism, which is provided in most cases with a spring drive, and by the slider, which in automatic firearms is often included in the gas-actuated drive, will depend on each other but the barrel is not required to perform an essential function for the loading of the firearm and the discharge of the round.
For instance, German Patent Specification 432,028 discloses a firearm that is provided with an insert barrel, which is secured by means of a locking sleeve that is adapted to be mounted on the mouth of the barrel by a bayonet joint and into which the insert barrel is adapted to be screwed by means of a liner sleeve, which is provided with external and internal screw threads and permits the insert barrel to be inserted to a desired depth and to be arranged in a desired angular position whereas the firing and loading operations of the firearm cannot be influenced.